Words Left Unspoken
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: A new one-shot set within Secret Garden. Once Zelena makes the sacrifice to give her life to save her daughter from Mother Gothel, and Robin in turn saves her mother, Hook then leaves them alone so they can talk and starts back towards Tiana's Palace. Zelena later realizes there were words she wanted to say to him. Unfortunately, trouble arises before she has the chance to do so.


Words Left Unspoken

One-Shot

Inside Memento Mori…

_Mother Gothel and Madame Leota glared at the archer, as well as at Zelena and Hook darkly after the amulet was shot out of the nymph's hand and the pirate had immediately lunged forward to grab the dangerous artifact from the floor before she could take possession of it once more, then the villainesses at last vanished from before them upon seeing they had been defeated. And when they were gone, Robin just dropped her father's bow and its magical arrow on the floor beside her, then she rushed forward to help her real mother._

_ "__Oh… my God," she fearfully and ashamedly cried out to her while she struggled to help her stand again, as Zelena breathed heavily through her pain that was finally subsiding. "You were gonna risk your life for me? That's insane!"_

_ "__I am your mother," Zelena lovingly answered her, as Hook watched on. "It is my job to do insane things for you."_

_Her daughter shook her head sadly as she replied, "I'm so sorry I doubted you."_

_ The former Wicked Witch responded again, "I'm so sorry I didn't support you. But I will from now on, no matter what you want to do with your life.__"_

_ "__All I really want to do right now is get out of here," the archer nervously answered her once she glanced around them, and Zelena just chuckled before both women hugged one another in a firm embrace._

"Right you are," the pirate Captain at last spoke again after he heartily, yet sadly looked on for a few moments at the mother and daughter finally being reunited in more ways than one, a reunion with his own daughter that he could only long for, then he looked down at the amulet in his hand and handed it to Zelena for her to take care of while he raised his head again to look into the woman's eyes. "You should hold onto it. You'll know what to do with it when the time's right. I'm going to go on ahead… So you and Robin can have the time it takes to walk back to Tiana's Palace to talk without me around as a third wheel. I'll see you later. That is… if you plan to stick around for awhile?"

Zelena just nodded at him and smiled, then she and her daughter watched Hook leave the witch's curio shop without another word spoken between either of them. After a few minutes, the women finally left Memento Mori as well, while they began to talk things through now that they've finally forgiven one another for their own shortcomings that caused the rift between them to grow so deep.

It wasn't long afterwards, that Gothel reappeared within Leota's sanctuary, followed seconds later by the powerful medium herself within her crystal ball, and the tree nymph growled in anger before she at last spoke curtly saying, "We failed. Because of that little witch and her powerless mother, we failed."

"I'm not so certain they are the only ones to blame for our failure to bring me back to life," Madame Leota then replied coolly as she looked into her mind and swiftly revealed to Gothel within her crystal ball, a moment between Zelena and Hook from the Wish Realm from minutes before they returned to save the former Wicked Witch's daughter.

_"Hey… Hey!" Hook of the Wish Realm suddenly called out to Zelena, who had stormed away while he chased after her once they left Robin behind in Memento Mori with Gothel and Madame Leota when the young witch chose to be trained in her craft by the villains over her own mother, as Zelena believed she'd been beaten and had lost her daughter for good._

_He caught up to her and tried to get her to stop by grabbing her arm, only to have Zelena pull away from him as she retorted angrily, "Look… I can't rescue someone that doesn't want to be rescued."_

_However, the Captain didn't give up trying to help her as he responded, "Look… Robin is just a child, Zelena. Perhaps, given time…"_

_ "__Listen, I don't need a parenting lesson from a pirate," she curtly interrupted him before he could finish._

_ "__She only thinks she knows what's best," Hook continued, refusing to give up trying to help her despite her stubbornness once Zelena finally stopped, and he moved around her so they were facing one another._

_Out of frustration, she answered, "Which is apparently more than me. Regina was right. I prevented Robin from finding herself, just like my father did to me."_

_He looked at her skeptically while he retorted, "You don't really believe that."_

_ "__Gothel gave her all she wanted," Zelena replied sadly and finally kept her eyes on the man before her while he spoke again more firmly._

_ "__That woman abandoned her own daughter, and she'll have no hesitation running yours dry," the Captain compellingly responded, as he knew and understood what the villainess who called herself Mother Gothel was really capable of better than anyone. "You have to…"_

_However, the Wicked Witch cut him off once again out of anger as she vehemently questioned, "What?! What can I do? I don't have magic!"_

_This time, Hook looked at her with a plea in his eyes, speaking gently as he said, "Robin needs her mother. You've got something much stronger than magic in you."_

_ "__What's that?" she quietly asked while she fought to keep herself from breaking down out of despair for failing her daughter._

_ "__Love," he strongly answered her, and it was then that she could see the love he felt for his own daughter in his eyes, as well as the sadness for being unable to be with her, while he continued. "You've faced certain danger, armed only with that. And it is love that makes you so daring, so brave, so utterly fearless. You've got so much more to offer Robin. Don't… Don't tear that asunder now."_

_Zelena's voice broke as she continued to look at him and asked, "So, what? I just turn around and…"_

_ Before she could finish questioning him how, Hook stated firmly, "Show her. Show her how much she means to you."_

"Well… well… Hook never knows when to refrain from interfering in matters he has no business interfering in, does he?" Gothel darkly questioned her sister, as she stared down at the image of the pirate's face until Madame Leota made the image within her ball vanish so she could reappear before her. "He brought that young witch's mother back here."

"Not only did he prevent you from returning me to this life in a body of my own after all these years, but he also stole the resurrection amulet," the medium coldly replied again as she looked up into her sister witch's eyes. "If you hope to save me so that you and I can move forward in our plans, you need to get the amulet back. You need to make that pirate pay. Make him suffer so much, that he won't be able to strike out against you ever again. So he'll never be able to be together again with his own daughter. Poisoning his heart was clever, but you've seen that your efforts are no longer enough. These heroes have given him new hope that he will one day be reunited with her. Hook needs to understand that he will only continue to fail her, again and again."

Mother Gothel smiled cruelly and then she responded haughtily, "You're right. And I do believe I have an idea on how I can do just that."

Later that night, at Tiana's Palace…

Zelena and Robin returned expecting at least Regina and Henry to be waiting up for them, so they weren't surprised when they entered the courtyard and found both of them sitting together talking on the bench beneath the canopy made for Ella, Henry, and their baby once the rebels were all finally free to live together at the Queen's palace in comfort. Ella had already gone inside to put Lucy to bed for the night along with Tiana.

Then once Regina saw her sister and her niece enter the courtyard, she and Henry swiftly stood and ran over to greet them, grateful to see that Zelena had succeeded in saving Robin from Gothel and that they were both alright. And they were ecstatic upon learning Zelena once again had her magic back thanks to Robin sacrificing her own for her mother. Unfortunately, neither of them noticed that Hook hadn't returned with them, nor did Zelena or Robin think to ask if he had already gotten back ahead of them on the assumption that he had.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Regina at last questioned Zelena where he was and if he was alright, and the witch with her powers newly restored again looked around them, feeling ashamed for not noticing sooner that he wasn't there, then she looked at her sister worryingly as she asked, "You mean… you haven't seen him? He should have been back here over an hour ago. He walked on ahead of us so Robin and I could talk on our own, and we walked very slowly."

"Well, he hasn't gotten back yet," Regina sternly answered her in frustration. "I'm certain of it. I'm going out to look for him."

"I'm coming with you," Zelena then replied just as firmly. "We made Gothel pretty angry when we showed back up again to save Robin. She might have retaliated by going after Hook because he was alone. I never should have made him feel like he was a third wheel like he believed himself to be."

Henry stated as well, "I'll come too. First… let me go talk to Ella and Tiana so that they'll know where we're going. I'll also grab us one of his rings he's not wearing right now so we can cast a locator spell on it to help us find him faster."

Regina nodded, while Zelena then turned to Robin as she pleaded, "Stay here. I want you to be safe. Don't worry… we'll all be back. I promise."

"I know you will," Robin responded to her in understanding and then nodded to let her mother know she would listen to her for once and stay with their friends, where her mother would know she was safe. "Be careful."

"Always," the former Wicked Witch answered her assuredly, then together with Regina and Henry once Regina cast her spell on the pirate's ring, the three of them vanished from the courtyard to go out into the forest in search of Hook.

Tiana walked out into the courtyard just in time to see their friends disappear and then she stepped up behind the young archer while she said quietly, "They're going to be okay. Your mother found you and saved you without her magic, and here you are. Try not to worry."

Robin turned around to look at the woman who just spoke to her, and while she didn't yet know her, she smiled at the Queen, then she replied gratefully, "Thank you. I hope you're right."

Meanwhile…

After he left the curio shop, Hook walked swiftly towards the Queen's palace feeling relieved and happy that they had succeeded in saving Robin from Gothel, and that her relationship with Zelena would only grow stronger now that they understood each another once more. However, he still couldn't shake the sadness he felt from believing he would never have this moment with his own daughter. It was a feeling he's been unable to shake since the night his heart was poisoned. A feeling that was killing him even more so than the poison in his heart ever could.

While he continued onward, his thoughts brought him back to the night he first saw Alice again after she had escaped the tower, then ran off to Wonderland in order to flee far enough away from him in fear and shame upon hurting him because she believed she had been foolish to believe the witch who tricked her before she attempted to embrace him in a hug upon seeing him again as well.

_After Henry and Ella ran after Alice and followed her to New Wonderland, Regina __continued to treat him until he eventually awakened again a few hours later and pulled the blanket draped over him away in another attempt to rise. However, Regina quickly returned to his side and helped him to sit up a little more, which was when Henry and Ella entered the tent upon their own return from Wonderland._

_ "__Mom," her son uttered in seeing her face first, until he looked down sadly upon his friend he could see had become fairly ill because of the poison in his heart._

_"Hey," Regina quietly responded when he and Ella slowly walked towards them._

_Hook struggled to look up at her son while he asked weakly, "Henry… Henry, lad… Did you find Alice?"_

_The younger man answered him assuredly, "We did. She wants you to know that she was just trying to protect you. Drizella tricked her into thinking that she was cured."_

_ "__Why would she do that?" the Queen asked in confusion over Drizella's motives._

_ "__So she could poison my heart," Henry replied his mother worryingly._

_She looked down and saw him holding Ella's hand in his own and became assured that her son was still alright, then out of relief she gratefully responded, "I'm glad to see she failed."_

_Finally, Ella spoke again to their friend tenderly while she and Henry knelt down in front of him saying, "Um, Hook… Alice wanted us to give you this."_

_ "__It's the White Knight," Hook answered her frailly while he took the white horse from his daughter's chess set which he had given to her long ago while she had still been trapped in the tower in which they had once lived. "I gave her this to remember me by."_

_ "__She said she doesn't need a reminder," Ella continued with assurance to try to offer him some comfort in his pain. "You two will be together again. She knows you'll find the real cure."_

_The Captain breathed out heavily while he agonizingly whispered, "It was worth it. I'd go through that pain a thousand times over just to see her again."_

_ When he closed his eyes again and continued to breathe heavily as he struggled against the pain his heart, he pulled the knight in against his chest and held it tightly in his hand close to his heart. Henry and Ella stood again, then Regina smiled up at them before she returned to tending to his fever._

Unfortunately, Hook was caught off guard when Gothel appeared behind him and suddenly attacked him while his thoughts were still on Alice, as she blasted him through the air and into the tree not far in front of him. Not to knock him unconscious, but just to wind him so that her prey wouldn't be able to fight back as strongly as she knew he would against what she had planned for him.

Hook struggled to lift himself away from the tree so he could rise back to his feet in order to defend himself against her once he saw Gothel standing before him, until she started walking towards him. However, the Captain pulled his pistol from his belt and swiftly fired, shooting the witch low in her left shoulder.

The nymph cried out in pain once the musket ball struck her, then she glared at him while she magically yanked the weapon from his hand and shouted angrily, "Did you really think a mere bullet from that antique gun of yours is powerful enough to kill someone like me? It stings… that's all."

"You've known me longer than anyone, Hook," she continued on after she used her power to heal herself, then finally knelt down in front of the pirate while he struggled again to move, only for Gothel to keep him firmly against the tree with her power. "I'm disappointed in you. But I found you because you convinced the Wicked Witch to come back for her daughter despite her being powerless. You convinced her that her love for Robin was more powerful than any magic Madame Leota or I possess."

"I was right," Hook smugly replied as he kept his eyes firmly on hers. "Their love for one another allowed Zelena to find her courage to save her daughter, just as it in turn allowed Robin to save her mother in return. Now, they're closer than ever. And I stopped you from taking away another child from her parent."

Gothel looked down on him as she smiled, then summoned a small dagger into her hand while she responded darkly, "Which is why… you're going to suffer a fate worse than death while trapped within the darkness of your mind, as you live with he consequences of your actions, being tormented by the guilt that plagues you every second, every minute, and every hour of every day."

Just as Gothel was about to stab the Captain, who stiffened while he prepared for what was to come, until all of a sudden, Regina, Henry, and Zelena appeared behind the villainess and when Henry saw the dagger in the witch's hand, he immediately cried out, "Hook!"

"You're too late, heroes," Gothel stated coldly, then swiftly plunged the blade deep into Hook's left shoulder, like where he had shot her minutes earlier before Regina or Zelena could stop her.

"No!" Regina angrily shouted, then swiftly attempted to force the villainess away from their friend, until the tree nymph suddenly poofed away with a smug smile on her face, and the dagger still held firmly in her hand.

Regina, Zelena, and Henry immediately rushed over to the Captain and knelt down in front of him so they could help him, as Hook felt himself grow weak until his head lolled to the side once he quickly lost consciousness. Regina raised her hands over the wound so she could heal him. The wound healed, but unfortunately, he didn't wake.

Henry looked down on his closest friend in confusion, as he nervously asked, "You healed him, so why isn't he waking up?"

Zelena slowly waved her hands over his body while she emitted her own magic in order to sense what was wrong with him, then she stopped and finally looked between her nephew and sister as she answered him worryingly, "His wound may be healed, but Gothel coated the dagger in a potion. I fear that witch cursed him. With a sleeping curse. We're too late."

"No… no, there has to be something we can do," Henry angrily retorted, then raised his head to look back up at his mother. "There has to be something other than true love's kiss that can wake him."

"Why wouldn't true love's kiss work?" the former Wicked Witch then questioned him in confusion, not really understanding their predicament. "Surely we can find his daughter and bring her to her father so she can save him."

Regina just shook her head and then she replied sadly, "We can't do that. Hook's heart is poisoned. Anytime Alice draws near to him, the poison is activated and Hook suffers terrible anguish. We've all seen it. If she were to give him true love's kiss… he might wake for a moment, but her kiss would soon kill him. For Hook, a sleeping curse on top of the Curse of the Poisoned Heart is the worst kind of punishment Gothel could have inflicted upon him. It's perfect."

Henry looked down on Hook again, then spoke firmly saying, "We need to take him to Gold. Surely if there's anyone who can help him, he can."

"Let's hope he's home," Regina apprehensively responded as she and Henry gently lifted their friend's upper body into their arms, then she poofed them all to where Gold established his new home upon his arrival in the New Enchanted Forest after Belle's death.

A short time later…

Thankfully, the Dark One was home when they arrived and he took them in without any protest when Henry pleaded with his grandfather to help Hook, then Henry, Regina, and Zelena quickly explained to him what happened, including how Gothel had forced Hook under a sleeping curse, while the man who trained both women in their magic used his own to see for himself what was wrong with the pirate, who was now lying as though he were dead on his floor.

"When Hook told me this morning that Gothel poisoned his heart, I didn't really understand that he meant it so literally," Zelena stated again to her sister quietly, while Gold did what he could for their friend. "I mean… I joked that he needed a new heart like the Tin Man once did and teased that we could invite the Scarecrow to come along with us. I wish now that I hadn't."

"There is another way to wake someone from a sleeping curse aside from true love's kiss," the Dark One finally said once he finished, then looked between the others around him while he continued. "However, it isn't easy to come by. And we most certainly won't find it without a little more help."

Regina looked at her oldest friend in understanding as she answered, "You mean pixie dust? We need help from a fairy. The Blue Fairy, or Tinker Bell maybe. Can you summon one of them here?"

Gold stood up from where he knelt over the Captain, then walked over to one of his many shelves where he kept his collection of books and magical artifacts, then pulled out one of the books that he had once used long ago to summon the Black Fairy to him after Belle had translated the fairy language for him. He had used it to summon his mother, but with the spell he would be able to summon any fairy to him. With the proper ingredients needed for the summoning spell, Gold spoke the fairy language to summon Tinker Bell to them. Then, everyone sat back while they waited for the Green Fairy to fly to them from wherever her travels might have taken her.

It was nearly two hours later by the time Tinker Bell at last appeared among them as she flew into the Dark One's home, then swiftly transformed herself into human size before she spoke worryingly upon seeing her friend lying wounded on the floor before her saying, "I'm so sorry it took me so long to get here. I was in the middle of some trouble in another realm. I came as soon as I could."

"My God… what happened?" she quickly asked again when she knelt down above the man she believed was her friend from Storybrooke, then looked between Regina and Henry, who she was surprised to see had grown so much since she last saw him, and finally emitted her own magic to see for herself what might be wrong with him. "He's trapped under a sleeping curse. He needs Emma."

"Actually… this isn't the Hook you know, Tink," Henry worryingly replied. "He is Hook, but… This is another version of him. From the Wish Realm. And he has true love in his daughter, but his heart's been poisoned. If his daughter were to give him true love's kiss, it would kill him. That's why we need you. Please tell us that you have some pixie dust on you?"

Tink looked between her friends with worry as she reluctantly responded, "I'm afraid I don't. It's rare and it doesn't even grow in Neverland anymore. Not for centuries. The only way to find some is if there's…"

Regina swiftly finished for her, "…a great evil. We might just be in luck after all because the witch who did this to Hook certainly qualifies as a great evil. Unfortunately, we have no idea where to begin looking for any pixie flowers that might have grown since she's been here in this land."

"Her garden…" Henry then continued. "I'm sure to her they're as bad as weeds, but surely she can't keep pixie flowers from growing in or around her garden no matter what she does to try to destroy them."

"Thankfully, my magic will allow me to sense them if they exist anywhere within this land," the Green Fairy answered, then suddenly returned to her true size and hovered above her friends' heads as she prepared to fly away. "I promise to find a pixie flower if there are any that exist here. Take care of him and I'll be back as soon as I can."

Before she flew off, Regina looked up at her while she replied, "Thank you, Tink. When you find it, come to us at Queen Tiana's Palace. That's where we'll be."

She smiled down at the Queen and responded, "Of course. I'll find you."

Two nights later…

Zelena was sitting with Hook again, watching over him while he lay in his own bed within the palace still trapped under Gothel's sleeping curse, when Henry suddenly came charging into the Captain's room as he anxiously exclaimed that Tinker Bell has finally returned from her search to find a pixie flower for its dust needed to wake Hook.

The former Wicked Witch hadn't told anyone, other than her own daughter when Zelena told Robin how she had come to find the courage she needed to fight for her despite being powerless to stand against Gothel, until Regina finally asked her sister why she was so concerned for him. She finally explained how it was thanks to Hook that she found her courage to go back to the witches' shop for Robin. However, she never had the chance to thank him and the words left unspoken made her feel more guilty than she expected was possible. She barely knew this man from the Wish Realm. But in one day, he had done more for her and her daughter than anyone else ever has, and all she could do for him was keep vigil over him with help from Henry, Regina, and Robin while he remained in his death like sleep.

"Did she find the pixie flower?" Zelena asked her nephew in concern, until he stepped aside so that the Green Fairy could walk around him into the room.

"I did," Tink quietly answered her, then summoned the pixie flower into her hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't find any sooner. But once I finally did, I flew here as quickly as I could."

And then, the fairy gave it over to Zelena as she spoke again kindly saying, "You should wake him."

Zelena smiled at her and whispered, "Thank you."

Once she expressed her gratitude to the Green Fairy, she then turned back to Hook again and gently shook the flower to sprinkle its magical dust over his body in hope it would be powerful enough to wake him from Gothel's sleeping curse. Everyone stood by and waited in worry, until at last, the pirate Captain finally awoke as he opened his eyes so he could look at the many faces surrounding him, including Zelena's, Regina's, Henry's, Tink's, and Robin's for which he was grateful. His only sense of sadness was because Alice wasn't there among his friends. Because she couldn't be.

"You had us all worried," Henry said to his closest friend first after he helped him to sit up. "But we're so glad you're alright."

"Thank you," the Captain replied when he looked up at him. "Mostly for finding a way to save me from the Netherworld. I've heard tales of it from others who've been put under sleeping curses. It's a cursed place."

Regina then responded, "Well… thankfully I can forge a charm that will help you with your dreams when you find yourself back there in your sleep. Now… I know you've been asleep for the last two days, but you should try to get some rest. Your body is still weak from having been in your state for so long."

Hook answered, "I will. Thank you all again."

"You're welcome," Regina replied to him again, then turned to look over at her sister before she began to usher everyone else out of the room so they could be left alone to talk.

"Is everything all right?" Hook then asked the former Wicked Witch when he saw how nervous she was before finally taking a seat at the bottom of his bed. "Robin… is she…?"

Zelena quickly responded, "Robin's fine. I just… There were words left unspoken. After we saved my daughter. And then you were hurt and… Thank you, Hook. For reminding me that love is more powerful than magic. For helping me find my courage to show Robin how much I love her. I would have lost her if you hadn't. I owe you a debt. So if I can help you become reunited with your own daughter, I will."

Hook looked at her with surprise, then he softly answered with sincerity, "Thank you."

Zelena then stood as she smiled down at him and finally left him alone, until Henry and Regina returned with some food and rum for him. Later that evening, Zelena was walking out in the gardens, where she became startled when Alice suddenly appeared behind her and asked her if her father was alright, having learned from Rumplestiltskin what happened to him. Zelena assured the young woman her father was fine and that she would pass along a message from her if she wished to express something to him. Alice gave her a letter to give to him, then Zelena raised her head again. But before she could say anything more, Alice took off running back into the forest. Once she was out of sight, Zelena returned to Hook's room to deliver his daughter's letter.

The End


End file.
